In Time
by Astarate
Summary: Annabeth was just wondering why her boyfriend Luke had cheated on her when her crazy schoolmate's freak experiment had sent her waltzing down the passage of time. Now a sea-green eyed youth seems to point a gun at her head over a hundred years before her time when her country was not even free. Would it be possibly more crazy if she realized that she might be falling for those eyes
1. Chapter 1

**Annabeth**

It was the fall of yet another year. The historic city of Kyte was covered in red and yellow maple leaves as slight breeze moved them in a flurry of crimson and amber. The wind was cold, indicating that winter was approaching and that sweaters and woolens would soon be in fashion. City buses rolled lazily through the lanes with hardly any passenger in them as it was noon. Everyone was either in their offices or in their houses. For kids it was school of course. The tall yellow towers of Brial High stood handsomely to the far east of the city. It's gardens and play areas stretched to kilometers as it was clearly the largest and the most élite high school in the city. The building also had a great past though. It was considered to be the cradle of the Kytian revolution, named after Sir William Brial, the first president of Kyte.

There was a huge fountain statue of him just outside the huge main entrance of the school, reminding people of him, even after a century of revolution. Anyway, present day Brial High was like any other high school with foot ball teams, lockers and detentions but it was highly rated somehow. The kids who went there were often obnoxious and full of themselves but that wasn't really the complete truth or so they thought.

Sitting in the math class room of the west block, student council president, an honors student, Annabeth Chase stifled a yawn as she pushed back her golden hair and tried to concentrate on what she already knew. The teacher was going on and on about some calculus problem. Annabeth didn't see why it was such a big deal but Mr McBee, their oh-so-stupid math teacher was convinced that the question was going to be on their final paper. Annabeth sighed as she tried to smooth her princess curls a bit. She was waiting for the bell to ring desperately. Not only she had another meeting with the council before the school closed for the winter breaks but she also was planing to surprise her boyfriend, Luke Castellan with a picnic basket and some canned apple juice.

She didn't understand why, but she just felt like spending the last day of fall curled up in a blanket in the back yard of Luke's house. Everything was so quiet and peaceful there. Plus Luke would be really glad if she were there at his house with his lunch after he returned from a hard day's work. Luke had just passed out from a nearby university, nothing too big, and had joined as a trainee in a near by courier office. The pay was good and Luke got plenty of time to spend with Annabeth who lived just a few blocks away with her mom and dad and her horde of brothers and sisters.

The bell rang shrilly, pulling Annabeth out of her daydream of Luke's backyard and pushed her into reality. She stood up hastily as Mr McBee handed over their winter assignments. Everyone seemed to either groan or glare at the stupid teacher but Annabeth just waltz past him after exchanging a polite goodbye. She sped up as she headed towards her locker to get all her books and stuff before the school closed. It was already hard to move in the busy corridor as the hall was filling with students, chattering excitedly about where they were going to spend their holidays.

Luke had promised Annabeth to take her to the nearby hiking point for the weekend and stay there in a hotel, just the two of them. The thought had made Annabeth blush to her roots but Silena had practically engraved her lecture into her brain saying, 'It's high time for it Annie! Of course he wants to, he is seven years older than you for heaven's sake!"

Annabeth ran face first into the crazy elf kid from mechatronics honors and fell hard on her butt. She straightened her uniform skirt as she stood up. Brushing the dirt of her checked dark grey skirt she glared down at Leo Valdez. He had just ruined her perfectly white button down uniform shirt and even her grey tie looked a bit crumpled.

"Oh sorry Prez! Didn't see ya there." He said in a carefree tone and he stood up and brushed his grey full trousers. Annabeth was thankful for their almost black grey skirts or other wise it would have been embarrassing to walk around with a dirty patch on.

"Watch where you are going Valdez." She said as she glared at him with her stormy grey eyes.

The poor guy paled and put his hands up in his defence as he said, "My time machine is almost complete. It just needs a few more-"

"Save it." Annabeth said as she pointed a sharp index finger at him and turned on her heels. She was getting late, she didn't really have time to have another argument with Leo about how a time machine could never exist. You see they all were a group the whole student council and somehow Leo was a part of it too who rarely attended the meetings though it didn't matter much and even though Annabeth was quiet mad at Leo for ruining her shirt then, he was a really funny guy to hang around with.

As Annabeth opened the door to the council hall she sighed in relief, she was not too late. Half of the members were yet to arrive. She smiled at Silky, the petite blonde with shiny white teeth, and Jascar her vice president. Soon the other members were there and the meeting was in full swing. They talked about the winter fest and about the up coming foot ball tournament and then some more about the fest. At last the meeting was over and she was free to go home.

"Nice work Prez." Everyone said softly to her before they left.

It was a relief. Finally Annabeth was walking out of the main entrance when she heard voices from the garage.

"Ouch! That hurt!" Leo whined and Annabeth rolled her eyes as she sped across the street and hailed a cab because a bus would take forever and she wanted to be at Luke's as soon as she could.

Annabeth paid the cab and entered her noisy house. Her little brother Malcolm came running after her toddler twins who were not behaving... again.

"Hey Sis! How was your day?" Malcolm asked, panting as he clutched the coat hanger for support.

"It was okay. You have been busy if I am not wrong?" She said wile kicking her shoes off and heading for the kitchen.

"You should try babysitting them for a change- Bobby! don't burn the curtains!" Mal dashed up the stairs to their parents room to get a hold of the twins.

"I babysitted you remember!" Annabeth called after him with a smile tugging the corner of her lips.

"I was the best toddler ever!" She heard him say before he disappeared into their parents room.

Annabeth sighed and pushed open the fridge to grab a cold bottle of water. Everything was sort of crazy in her biggy family after all. As she shut the fridge she found a note stuck on it for her.

_Honey_

_Me and your Dad are busy working over this new plan we have to hand over this week._

_Well be back pretty late. Could you please take care of Malcolm, the twins and Vera? Please Anna? We owe you one sweetie! _

_Mom._

Annabeth cursed under her breath and tossed the paper to the dust bin. She had already started cooking for Luke but it seemed like her parents just had to ruin everything after Leo had ruined her uniform. A nagging feeling about how everything was slightly off beat today bothered her. It was as if something big was going to blow on her face pretty soon. She sucked in a deep breath and looked around the house. It was big with three bedrooms on each floor, had an airy room as kitchen come dining room and a well planed drawing-room, but appeared to be crowded because of its inhabitants of two adults and five children. Malcolm, Vera and Annabeth were kids from their father's first marriage and the twins were from his second. But now he was back again with his first wife after a rocky relationship with his second and everything seemed to be fine now.

Annabeth quickly switched her phone on and called her sister Vera, she was just a year below her.

"Hey Anna!"

"Get back home."

"What?"

"Mom and dad are out and you are in charge."

"But-"

But Annabeth had hung up by then. She had already pulled on her sneakers and was heading for the door again. She was afraid that she would miss that something big if she wasn't at Luke's at once. She could always cook at his apartment and still surprise him by just being their all of a sudden. Annabeth grabbed her red coat and opened the door a crack as cool wind gushed in. She shivered a little as the temperature had certainly dropped a few degrees. It was going to snow in a few days.

"Mal! I am heading out!"

Annabeth called out over her shoulder.

Her brother came running out and bent at the railing as he asked back, "Again?"

Annabeth felt a little guilty about leaving her brother alone with the twins but Vera was just cooling off in the gym. She would be back soon and besides, Luke lived just a block away.

"Yeah but Vera would be back soon. Don't worry." Malcolm nodded and ran inside the room just as she saw one of the twins punch the other.

She sighed and closed the door behind her. Those twins were the devils. She could have sworn that. As she walked the short distance to Luke's her phone buzzed. It was a text from Silena, actually a picture of her and her boyfriend Charls outside an ice cream shop. Both of their faces were aglow as they clung to each other and smiled for the camera. Annabeth shook her head and placed her phone back in her coat's pocket. Maybe everything wasn't off beat as it was so like Silena to click photos of every date of hers and send them to Annabeth. This brought a kind of relief in Annabeth's chest. Maybe nothing big was going to happen just yet.

She reached Luke's building and nodded at the gruff guard as she passed through the gates. The roads had been vacant and cold if not for the frequent flickers of the street lights. She pulled her coat closer to her as she made her way towards Luke's apartment. He lived on the ground floor so she just ignored the lift and knocked on his door. It flew open. Strange. Luke was never the careless sort. He always made it a point to do things right.

Cold fear gripped her heart as she stepped inside his house. Everything was dark and-

"Oh Luke you abs are the best!"

Suddenly Annabeth turned around. No. There was no one outside the house, just the windows and doors of the other apartments. Their red walls were pale and chipped but that as just the ordinary, the voice must have come from inside. Annabeth tiptoed her way inside the appartment, careful to not make a single noise and alert the intruder. She almost tripped over the sofa set as she heard again, "Your body's the best too."

Her breath hitched at her throat. It was Luke. The voices were coming from his bed room. Annabeth quietly walked over to it and opened the door just a crack to peer inside. Luke was busy making out with a slender girl with straight brown hair.

"I thought you had a girlfriend." Her black eyes twinkled as she pushed Luke away playfully.

"She's Just a kid." Luke smirked as he picked that girl up and advanced towards his bathroom.

"Yeah that's right, let's cool off a bit." The girl giggled.

Annabeth ran out of his apartment. Her eyes were threatening to tear up. What had just happened? Who was that girl? Luke and she had been together for about two years! Is this the first time he was cheating? Or had he always been that way? No. He couldn't possibly have been. He was her Luke. Kind and honest and handsome for her even with his nasty scar running down his cheek from his baby blue eyes. Her hands ached as they remembered all the time she had spent stroking his soft blonde hair. Everything seemed unreal all of a sudden.

Her mobile buzzed again with yet another lovey dovey photo of Silena and Charls and she hurled her phone at the nearest wall in a furry. All those pictures were like a salt on her fresh wound. How did Silena know that Bekendorf was her perfect boyfriend, not cheating on her? Maybe he was and Annabeth would love to see the day when she found out about it. But somewhere deep inside she knew that Charls loved Silena and that they both loved Annabeth a lot which made her feel a whole lot bad all over again. She stuffed her hands in her pocket and walked out of that cursed building. She hoped that it would fall on Luke's head some day.

She realized that she had come home before she really registered it. She raised her hand to knock but noticed that their parent's cars were still out meaning that she would be immediately ushered to run after her siblings if she went inside at that moment when all she really wanted to do was to curl up on her bed in her bed room and curse Luke for all he was worth. So instead she took a bus to Brial High. The ride was uneventful as the view of thousand fallen maple's flashed past Annabeth. Except for her there was just another elderly couple, enjoying their days together. Seeing them made her heart ache and wish to stop. She still couldn't believe that all this was real, that Luke had actually cheated on her and above that he had called her a kid. Had he planed on being alone with a kid in a hotel this weekend? The thought somehow disgusted Annabeth now. She wished that this day had never come, that she had never come to Luke's apartment in the first place but then she would have been in the dark, which she hated above all.

As Annabeth jumped off the bus and started to stroll aimlessly around the campus there was an explosion. Something was happening in the garage. In Leo's garage. Annabeth's heart raced as she felt that something big approaching her in an antique rhythm. It was as if something was ready to consume her. She pushed it at the back of her mind and hurried over there to see if Leo was okay. He seriously was going to blow the school apart one day.

As she reached his garage she stopped in her tracks. Her mouth flew open as what she saw in front of her threw her out of her minds. Leo had somehow built a giant chair car with thick wires flying from one cabinet to other. The thing was huge and shaped like and egg with a seat in it with the dash board of a car inside it. The way the car gave off a feeling of old bones reminded Annabeth of the Pre- revolution periods. They had been thought that about hundred years ago such cars were used by the blonde haired, blue-grey eyed tyrant nobles to dispose off the dead bodies of the resistors. Annabeth felt her body recoil back at that horrible memory.

"Leo! What the hell is this?"

The car was earlier hanging on a metal from the roof but it had crashed down with a loud thud which she had mistaken for an explosion. Leo came around from it with grim covering his features as he coughed and said, "Don't move. Something has gone wrong. I-"

But before he could say anything there was a huge flash. Annabeth squinted and moved back as the light grew on her. It felt as nothing but suddenly her heart was racing a mile per minute. This was her something big. Leo's stupid project was. Her ear drums popped and her blood seemed to pulse through her neck as she stifled a scream. Her muscles had gone rigid and she could feel her hair flying everywhere. She was too afraid to open her eyes. She wondered if she could open them. She tried to lift her hand but it was useless. Cold fear bled through her as she dreaded being paralysed. Has Leo's stupid project ruined her body? Why wasn't she moving. And then the light went away all of a sudden.

Annabeth heard Leo scream her name but his voice was so distant, he could have been standing out on the entry gate and calling out for her.

And then Annabeth landed on something cold and slippery and slipped down the path and landed on her knees pretty hard. She was sitting on snow. Snow? Where had it come from? There wasn't any snow a moment ago and now she could feel it in her hair in her coat... everywhere. And then the blinding lights where back. Annabeth shielded her eyes as she heard footsteps running towards her. What was happening? Where was she?

"She could be a Noble! She had blonde hair." She heard a feminine voice scream heftily.

"Her eyes?"

"I caught a sight of them they appear to be like them all right!" Yelled back another one.

What was happening? Why were people talking about her hair and her eyes? Who were they. Annabeth realized that the lights were actually torch lights. Something clicked into place, making Annabeth looked up slowly. She gulped at what she saw. A revolver of the last century was pointed at her. Fear gripped her heart as her mind struggled to process everything that was happening. These people were nuts. She had to get out of there fast and-

"Say your prayers Noble." A calm and cold voice of a man tore through her momentary deliria as she looked further up. In the darkness of the hour all she could see of her possible assassin were his sharp blue-green eyes, glowing with hatred, all of it pointed at her.

"Huh"

His squeezed the trigger as the gun fired and stilled the already deathly still night.

**Guys I know this chapter might have been a really quick one but I have this idea and I can't help it go on so fast. So do you guys wanna read further? Tell me what ya think!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Annabeth**

The shot had made the already chilly air colder than it could possibly get. The loud sound of the shot was still in the air, ringing back and forth. Everything was still around it. It was as if everything had suddenly turned to stone, hard and cold. The brown coat of the blue-green eyed stranger flapped against the snowy ground as the wind blew with a slur.

Annabeth opened her eyes which she had squeezed shut before. She wondered where the bullet had hit her and moved her eyes around while keeping her head still to look for blood. But the snow was as white as before, if not for the occasional muddy patches but spotless other wise. How could have he missed? The gun was practically on her head there is no way he could have-

Then she realized that the gun was still on her head. There was a sharp click as the boy brought another bullet and stretched his arm out to take aim again. Annabeth looked up at him, confused as he aimed above her head and fired again. This time she covered her ears with her hand and ducked towards the ground. What was happening? She shifted her neck a little and dared a look behind her. The sight horrified her. Behind her on the ground, where she remembered a swing set had been earlier, lay a body of a blonde man. His blue eyes were open and so was his mouth as he was killed in mid scream. His skin was white as blood poured out from the middle of his forehead. It was a clean hit. She could see that the first bullet was for his knee as it bled too.

Annabeth gave out a choked yell. She quickly brought her knees close to herself and scrunched back from the boy. How could he have just killed a man? As if on que, He turned on her and clicked a bullet in place in his gun again. His hair was the same color as that of the night. Black as the starry sky, or should she say, black as hell. Small locks of his hair fell on his tanned skin which had certainly not seen the sun since last summer. His long coat was covering him completely. Only a little of his neck was visible. Now if Annabeth had spotted him yesterday while out on a shopping spree with Vera with his hard set jaws and thin but complete lips, she would have given him a second look and Vera would have swooned over his solid body with perfect legs and built. But now all she could think about was how perfectly he personified death with his raven-black hair and glowing sea-green eyes which were too busy glaring down at her.

She had never ever felt small in her life before but at that moment, she wanted to get so small that she would disappear from his glaring sight. What had happened? That seemed to be the question of the day. And suddenly as the boy flexed his wrist to point the gun back at her, Annabeth became aware of the other people surrounding them. They were watching as he killed, looking out for more to kill, and probably that wasn't their first kill of the night. She caught a sight of a dark haired girl with striking electric blue eyes from her periphery. Her blue eyes seemed to widen as their eyes met.

"Say your prayers." The boy muttered yet again as he pointed the gun straight at her head and put his finger on the trigger.

"STOP!" The girl with blue eyes came forward swiftly with her own revolver trained on Annabeth.

Annabeth noticed how her hair barely touched the base of her neck. She had always wanted short hair like that but maybe now wasn't the moment to imagine herself with short hair. But why not? If she was going to be killed by that pretty boy in front of her she might as well as think aloud. Luke had always asked her to get a nice trim but she had always resisted. Maybe she had not loved him all that much after all. The thought of Luke brought back the image of his betrayal which stirred an angry fire within her. This was all his fault. If not for that cheating bastard she would have been safe and sound and she would have never seen Leo's time machine-

Leo's time machine! Her head snapped up as she looked at the boy. He was looking at the blue-eyed girl with slight irritation.

"What Thalia?" His voice was smooth and calm Annabeth noticed, too calm for someone who had just killed another human. But then again this must not be the first time he is doing this. She scooted further away from him on that happy note. She desperately wished that all of this was just a big bad dream and nothing more. A nightmare that would end any moment. Not something freakish to do with Leo's time machine.

"Her eyes. They are not at all blue. They are grey!" Her gun was still trained on her but Annabeth realized that the bullet was not in the counter, she was not going to shoot Annabeth, well most probably. A bulky boy with beady black eyes and buzzed hair scratched his head before saying,

"Maybe it's some genentical defect? That noble appeared right after she did."

_Noble. Blue eyes, blonde hair, and Leo's time machine._

Her head snapped up as a realization hit her hard like falling stones. Maybe Leo wasn't bluffing after all. Her head snapped up again and she found her voice for the first time since this had all begun,

"Which year is this? What is today's date?"

The boy knelt down before her and grabbed her shoulders roughly and tilted his head, staring hard into her eyes.

"I don't believe it. She could be a spoiled princess and that could have been her guard." He said jerking his head in the dead man's direction, ignoring her feeble voiced question.

Was she in the middle of the war of revolution of Kyte 1914? Right when the World War was going on their country had achieved complete freedom. Could this be... could this be...

All the things that Annabeth had studied about the revolution came crashing back into her mind. The tyrannical Noble's class. The people of the city who have been crushed under their shoes for since the beginning of time maybe. The Lost Wings, the revolutionary group which was finally successful in assassinating the king and taking over power and adopting rules and rights and duties from the constitutions of France, USA and other democratic countries of then. It was when they became kind of democratic from monarchy and everyone lived happily ever after. There is a catch of course. The members of the Broken Wings were never discovered after the great assassination. Their information was strictly confidential before that too but after the revolution... it was said that they just went AWOL. Their flag, ironically a huge bird flying freely in a clear blue sky, was taken as the nation's flag to honor their great contribution to us.

But it didn't have to be 1914 now. It could be 1913 or 1912 or even 1812 for all it's worth. Annabeth knotted her fingers into fists as she thought about all this. Only if she had never met that cheating jerk called Luke... She really needed to know what date it was today.

"What is today's date?" she tried again.

There was no answer. The boy still had his hands on her shoulder as he bickered with the dark-haired girl. The earlier wanted to shoot her then and there and the later wanted to hold her prisoner till they became sure of what she was. Both suggestions horrified Annabeth but she didn't have a choice did she?

"I am telling you she is a Nobel-"

"WHAT IS TODAY'S DATE?" She shouted as she swatted the boy away, pushing his chest so hard that he fell on the snow on his back. And suddenly, everyone there was eager to shoot a million holes in her body, all their guns were trained straight at her and from the looks in their gleaming eyes and hard stances, she knew that they rarely missed and even if one of them did, the others would get her for sure. She gulped. She just wanted to do that since forever but on a different person, namely Luke, but now she was going to die.

"It is fifteenth of December... of 1913 of course." The girl named Thalia said, her blue eyes were shining with mirth at Annabeth's action.

Annabeth looked away from her and caught a glance of the black-haired boy lying on the snow. He was kneeling on his knees now and for a split of a second she saw his sea-green eyes go soft and wide. And then they were hard and set again. Annabeth wondered if she had just imagined it but then thought to drop the topic all together. But she wished the boy would stop glaring at her though, his soft eyes would be a lot prettier after all.

"Thank you and I am s-sorry or pushing you." She said. Her voice had gone stiff from being quiet all this while but she had to break the ice.

She sneaked another glance at the boy who was getting up now. He stood up in all his glory as another cold breeze made his coat sway slightly along with his hair. He looked at her and extended his hand. Annabeth thought that he was going to offer his hand to her for helping her up. The thought stupidly made her feel slightly relaxed but then his hand snapped in a sharp _wiz _as he wiped his forehead instead. She could have sworn that he wasn't sweaty but well... who cared. All she could think about was what a huge egotistical jerk he was, maybe even worse than Luke. She hated the dull disappointment that was started to build up in the pit of her chest.

Well if this guy thought he was so great and mighty then he was free to think so wasn't he? Not that it mattered to her in any possible way.

she felt someone grab her shoulder and lift her up. It was Thalia. Annabeth tried to smile at her but as soon as she tilted her head, she slipped and fell face first on the snowy ground.

"Hey Blondie are you okay?"

She heard someone jeer as the others joined in with short busts of laughs and giggles. Were they seriously laughing at her? They were after her blood a moment ago. And no one was helping her up and her arms were freezing. She doubted if she could get up solely on her legs which were getting number by the minute. Everything felt so wrong and discouraging. All these people's laughter, her not being able to get up on her own...

It all just seemed like a nightmare that just refused to end. Hot, tears stung her eyes as she thought about all those things. What was she going to do now? Unless she was dreaming there was no way of getting out of this mess. She had just lost her boyfriend and now she was going to lose it all, her family, her friends, her perfect grades, her chance to be Kyte's best architect, her life... everything, just because Leo's freak invention malfunctioned now her life was over. It would have been better if they had actually pulled those triggers. At least then she wouldn't have had to think about her depressing life. Why had everything come to this? Why has everything been taken from her in return for absolutely nothing!

Just when that thought crossed her mind she felt something soft, warm and a little heavy fall gently on her back. It was like a blanket was covering her up and though it might have been just a blanket, at that moment, she felt wonderful and grateful for it. It was as if the cover was a warm bubble of hope engulfing her when she needed it the most, when she was about to break down. Whoever the person was, her or she surely-

Strong arms went around her waist and pulled her up. There was a sudden splash of torch light, then Annabeth felt someone brushing something off her coat lapels. Her eyes adjusted to the brightness and then she saw him. He was wearing a loose black shirt with full black pants. His blue-green eyes looked too green up close as he was standing so close to her with his hands on her waist. She just looked at him. Few upturned locks slipped and fell over her eyes. His grip on her waist tightened for a second and then he dropped his hands. Annabeth had stupidly thought that maybe he would push her bangs behind her ear but that was ridiculous. Why would a random guy even think about touching her hair. Maybe she had hit her head too hard while... well magically appearing here.

The boy turned and flexed one of his arms and looked at the people who were dead quiet now. Annabeth hadn't noticed when they had gone all that silent.

"What are you all looking at?" His voice was loud and clear and for the first time Annabeth felt like she wasn't dreaming, like this was really happening and even though the weight of reality was pushing around the corners, fully ready to land on her shoulders, at that moment seeing him like that, so sure of himself and his way broad back sort of shielding her, she felt like she was really there.

"Don't get too friendly with her yet cousin." Thalia chuckled, "there is a huge probability that she is a Nobel."

But he wasn't looking at Thalia or maybe not even listening to her. He had turned around and now he was looking straight into Annabeth's stormy grey eyes. She just couldn't look away from his stony, cold, sea-green ones because even though they were hostile, it felt like he was seeing right through her, her deepest secrets, her darkest mistakes and all her regrets. It was as if he was sensing that somehow she didn't belong in this time period. His eyes flickered and then he turned away before saying.

"Let's hope you don't eat your words later Thalia."

Thalia smiled slyly then took a ones-over at the crowd and shouted, "The hunt's called out! We have a prisoner!"

* * *

><p>Annabeth almost didn't recognize her school. The once authentic and properly painted and groomed building was now looking like an abandoned warehouse. Where the huge garden was supposed to be standing with its fountains, statues and everything was just yet another patch of maple trees. In fact the whole building was concealed by barriers of maples. She understood why it was a good hideout. It was sort of low ground with trees covering the soon-to-be school and without being on choppers, it seemed almost impossible to locate it unless you knew it was there.<p>

As Thalia pushed her inside the huge tin gates, she looked around in awe. Tens and hundreds of older kids and kids her age were wandering around in jerseys and mostly dark-colored tops. They laughed together as they passed her by, not even giving her a second glance. She could see the occasional glints and clicks on kids loading and unloading their guns. There were different kind of stalls everywhere as kids crowded around them. Annabeth caught sight of a few girls who were surely not much older than Malcolm, shooting balloons in one of the stalls and missing absolutely none. There were groups of armed people everywhere and as she passed the entrance door people finally started noticing her. Some threw her a curious look while the others plainly glared at her. Well this was the anti-noble camp after all and for all they knew she perfectly looked like any tyrannical noble.

Ones inside the building Annabeth kept staring straight ahead. Sure the hallways looked dark and kind of haunted without the lockers and the display boards and paintings but still... it kind of made her feel familiar? She just didn't know the right word but it did make her feel really homesick. Walking ahead of her was Thalia and behind her was the guy with stony sea-green eyes and two other guys were flanking her so that she couldn't make a run for it. All this seemed insane. Entering her own school like a prisoner...

She wondered if the blue-green eyed guy was staring at her. He must be, that was what he was hear for after all. To watch out for if she tried to escape. She wondered what he was thinking. Did he find it weird that she appeared out of nowhere about an hour ago? Or had he even seen her appearing from thin air. Anyway, a big bad time machine won't surely be the first thing that he would have thought of even if he did see her falling out of the sky.

That's when Annabeth realized that she couldn't tell anyone about it. They would surely think she was crazy or worse... lying and then they would publicly execute her maybe. She dared a side way glance at her blue-green eyed jailer. He was staring sideways outside the huge tinted windows. It was night and the atmosphere was surely cold. She was just glad that she had got that brown long coat on her...

And then she really did turn her head to look at him. His coat was gone while her other three captors still had theirs on. He had covered her while she was shivering back there? Maybe he wasn't that big of a jerk after all.

His eye-balls slid back and caught her looking at him. Suddenly she felt like turning around and hiding her face in her coat. What was she doing? Staring at them could raise their suspicions. But she didn't turn around. She just kept on staring at him. Finally a muscle in his neck moved as he turned his head towards her and raised his eyebrows. She wondered what his name was.

"What?" He said with a hint of irritation in his tone.

"You gave me your coat. Thank you." She said carefully, not wanting to say anything upsetting.

"Whatever. Just keep on looking ahead." With that he tilted his head away from her.

Annabeth went back to staring at Thalia's head. Maybe she was right earlier. That guy, whatever his name was, was surely a jerk.

And then finally they reached a door. And not just any door, it was the door to the schools treasure room where they earlier used to keep all their trophies. There had been about a hundred and eleven trophies of her kept inside that room. Now she wondered what was in there.

"Okay uh... What's your name?" Thalia, asked while turning back to look at her with her arms crossed in front of her.

"It's-" She wondered if she should fake it but then immediately dismissed the thought, "I'm Annabeth, Annabeth Chase,"

"A Chase?" Thalia said thoughtfully while tapping her cheek with her finger, "I don't know any noble with that name. Do you?" She raised her eyebrow at her cousin who just shrugged. Annabeth couldn't help but notice how well toned his body was even though there were far more important things to worry about than that.

"At any rate. You should meet Chiron. I mean you obviously already know him." She perked up as she put her hand on the door knob.

"The one who taught Hercules?" She asked in disbelief.

"What? No!" Thalia dramatically widened her eyes in shock and put her free hand over her heart.

"Were you living under a rock till date? You just can't be a noble if you don't know Chiron."

She just stared at her. She had never read about anyone called Chiron in Kytian revolution chapters.

"So go." Thalia said, while opening the door for her.

"You are not coming?" Annabeth asked confuse.

She shook her head and said, "There are other guards inside."

Annabeth nodded and took a bold step forward and then just as she was going to go inside completely she turned around and faced the sea-green eyed guy.

"What's your name?" She asked.

His eyebrows scrunched together as he sized her up.

"You don't have to tell me." She said with a sigh. He turned around and started walking away.

Annabeth just looked at him, thinking what his problem was. But then he stopped and glanced over his shoulder, his eyes almost looked to be a flashing green.

"Perseus Jackson."

"It's just Percy." Thalia said as she shut the door behind her.

Percy huh? It was a good name.

**So how was this chapter fellaws! Please tell me if this is going good and if I should finish it. So enjoy!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Percy**

The dungeons were cold and dark but then again, all underground places made of stones are like that. That is what makes them a dungeon. When the rotten prisoners would learn to crave simple sunshine and smiling faces that's when they will learn their lesson. There is something about the bitter cold and the cracks and mosses and the creepy noises made by rats and likes that appeals to its purpose. It appeals to Percy too and oh! The agonized screams of the tortured captives who were not sentenced to be executed were on a different scale of good things all together.

The logic was simple. Percy hated the nobles with every fiber of his being so he wanted each and every one of them dead. There was no limit to what to he might do when in presence of one. He was always ready to shoot them and send them to their graves of course but according to him that was too small a punishment from what they actually deserve. His thoughts were shared by almost all the leaders of the thirteen squadrons but he was different and everyone agreed. He shot his victims without mercy and walked over their dead bodies after they are dead. He tormented them by saying, 'say your prayers' but killed them in a blink of an eye, without even giving them enough time to actually register the fact that they are about to die.

So why the new girl with golden hair and eyes so grey that they slightly appeared blue sometimes still alive? Why wasn't she shot the moment Percy saw her golden mane curled in a princessly fashion? That was exactly the hot topic of discussion that night in the dungeons where prisoners where banging against the railing as they were being whipped. Those who had already had their turns where murmuring among themselves about whether the girl was a lucky bastard or a very unlucky to be prisoner.

"I think he was baffled by her charms! Must be a princess!"

"No no! I think he plans on tormenting that poor lass. That heartless monster!"

"Yes! Yes! He is too cold-hearted to get to the roots of the things. She is going to end up here or dead soon! Poor girl!"

Percy gritted his teeth and wrapped a whip around his right palm and advanced them. Whipping was only for disobedience but for him these traitors or nobles were more than just a bunch of cruel mass killers. They were demons from hell. They tortured women, killed their children and husbands in front of them and then sold them in the markets after use. They made innocent commoner children their targets for shooting and made them work in mills for days without rest or food or water. Something so similar had happened to him in the dark passages of past. His mother... his family...

He approached the scrawny high-nosed noble who was the most enthusiastic about how he had not killed the new girl. The noble man was most probably in his thirties and had served as a mass assassin in the gas killing in down town railways a month ago. Percy still remembered the sight of a thousand dead bodies of kids and old people alike with their mouths open and their eyes glazed. They were assigned for collecting the bodies for their last rights. He had seen it all, ever since his memory had started taking shape, he had only know one thing, that was how to hate.

He raised his hand and the whip moved with his strong muscular but lean arm. The noble man closed his eyes and drew back in the corner of his dark mossy cell in fear. All his neighbors crept towards his cell and practically tried to insert their heads through the iron bars as many of them cheered and jeered for the man to be beaten. Some friends. At least his cell mates were keeping a healthy distance. Percy was not supposed to whip anybody, not just him, whipping was far below any of the thirteen leaders. But he couldn't help it when these scum bags started running their mouths... forgetting their place.

And his hand went down.

"Percy!"

There was complete silence. The whip had stopped in mid air and was now hanging harmlessly from Percy's hand. He turned around with irritation written all over his face towards the far end of the cellar from where the voice had come. It was familiar indeed.

The leader of the third squadron, a young girl with curly cinnamon-brown hair and chocolate skin, Hazel Levesque, marched towards him from the shadows, her golden eyes glowing in her wake. She was not particularly as bitter as Percy but she emitted an aura of fear. The prisoners cowered as she passed them, some even begging for mercy. They should have known who to fear. Hazel was always kind to them.

"What?" Percy said as he threw the whip away, at the scrawny noble, and turned fully to face Hazel.

"Why are you here?" She relaxed a little as she finally reached him, it looked like she had been working for days without proper rest.

He shrugged before answering, he wasn't particularly doing anything.

"Just killing time until the next hunt tonight."

"There will be no hunt."

"What?" This got to him. He loved hunts and the maples. Something about them gave him the thrills.

"The president is holding a meeting of the leaders in his private hall in ten. He want's to know about the latest hunt and that... girl." Percy could tell that Hazel didn't mean it but the bitterness over that 'could be' noble girl was clear in her voice.

"Annabeth." Percy said quickly and for some reason a tad bit defensively.

Hazel raised her eyebrows at him. He quickly made up by saying,

"What is there to talk? She is with Chiron now and he is to decide."

"Well the president or director want's to discuss it so it is to be discussed Percy. Honestly I don't see the big deal about her." She leaned against the wall and sighed tiredly and rubbed the back of her palms against her fore head. She desperately needed sleep Percy noted.

"Then we should be going? I guess this guy here got lucky." Percy said before kicking the scrawny noble in his ribs and leading Hazel out of the dungeons.

* * *

><p>"I say she should be slaughtered. The other resistances as stirring against us because of our softness towards her." Yelled Clarisse she banged the senate table in front of her with her fist.<p>

Mr. D, their director frowned at her which made her stop.

Percy rolled his eyes. Why had the old fart called this meeting? He could have killed her with just one order if he had wanted to but no... He just had to make a big deal out of it. His private chamber was just another small room with a poker table and decks of cards lying around. Creepers of wines and sweet-smelling flowers were moving in through the broken glass of the only window in the room. There was a fireplace too. Percy thought that the fire in it was the only reason that everyone here was able to bear with him. He pulled his new black jacket a bit tighter as he shifted in his seat.

He remembered how he had draped his furry brown coat on that girl called Annabeth. He wondered if she still had it on...

"What do you think Perry?"

The director looked at him with his blood-shot eyes as he waited for Percy's answer. Percy had always wondered why he had become the director. He absolutely loathed everyone and was terribly short and stubby and harmless in his Hawaiian shirt. But looks could definitely betray. Percy had himself seen Mr. D on a rare hunt. That cranky man could kill all right.

"I don't think anything of her." He said, and then very slowly he added, "She could be a spy. I hate to agree with Clarisse but it is best if she is eliminated at the earliest."

"But she could be just a lost commoner." Broke in Piper McLean, the most beautiful leader present there, her side braids moved with her head as she stood up from her place. Her slightly dark skin glowed beautifully along with her ever changing eyes as she spoke. Percy instinctively went on alert mode. That girl could make anybody believe in her. He had to stay on guard.

"What then Clarisse? Or do you just suppose we should go rampant on the streets and kill everyone with blonde hair?"

The other people suppressed their giggles as Clarisse went red.

"I think she is a spy!"

"No! Her eyes are not at all blue!"

"Doesn't matter! Kill her!"

"Kill her!"

"Burn that noble bitch!"

And soon the room turned chaotic. Percy felt his chest tightening in his jacket as the majority of the leaders suggested her demise. Percy felt strange about it. After all that was what he believed too right? May be he was feeling a little down because she was the first victim of his hunts that he had brought back alive. Yes, the very first one and now she would die. A sad but cruel smile curled his lips as he imagined her being hanged. She deserved it if she were a noble.

"Silence Leaders! All of you are fighting like baby dolphins!"

Percy could feel the scowls and glares of all the leaders at Mr. D after he had said those words. He wondered how Mr. D knew how baby dolphins argued. At any rate the room calmed down as everyone waited for Mr. D to speak who looked very pleased with himself. After all it wasn't everyday he got to boss those kids around.

"That Gold fish is not to be trusted. We have met many nobles whose sons and daughters do not have blue eyes! We must-"

"Then what about Jason Mr. D? Should we kill him too?" Piper crossed her arms in front of her chest as she spoke.

Percy raised his eyebrows at her. Jason Grace was an ideal noble looking commoner with his neat blonde hair and electric blue eyes. The only thing which made the rebels believe in him was his relation with Thalia Grace as his sister who, with her black choppy hair, is no where near being a classy and snobby noble. Apart from that, Piper McLean was Jason's lover, saying his name out loud in a crowd of leaders... she must really feel for the new stranger.

From the other corner of the room Thalia shot up. She was second in command to her brother Jason, leader of the first squadron.

"That is insane. If not for the way Jason looks we would have never been able to know about the air bombing which we diverted last week. He is our spy out there risking his life and we barely know this girl! How dare you compare them?" She looked angry all right and Percy didn't need another punch in his gut to know that an angry Thalia was not very good to deal with. But Piper seemed to overlook that when she said,

"That's what I am saying! We can use this girl! She could be a noble or she couldn't be one! If she isn't then we can send her along with Jason in the enemy castles and-"

Percy didn't realize what he was doing until the moment he was already up on his feat and speaking. He knew even without the help of a mirror that his eyes were flashing with... something.

"That is absurd." He said in a deadly calm voice which, if not as powerful as Piper's, was totally scary enough to draw everyone's attention in the room towards him. Even Mr. D took a light inaudible gulp.

"We don't know what she is. And if by any chance Chiron decides she is not a noble then I guess we should not send her to her death already. The way she was cowering and shaking yesterday night at the sight of my revolver proves that noble or not that girl has never even held a knife against anybody in her life before."

Everyone was staring at him. He was not known to be cold hearted, self centered jerk by the people who lived outside the dungeons but the number of people he cared about and spoke up for in favor or in concern were fairly less. So why the ice king was suddenly defending the newbie... maybe even the ice king didn't know.

And then the doors to the director's private chamber flew open as Chiron walked in with the usual DiAngelo siblings flanking him. Nico DiAngelo was younger than Percy and had this sickly pale olive skin and dark deep eyes and black hair. He was wheeling his sister Bianca in who had lost her legs knee down tragically several years ago in a battlefield. Nico couldn't be more protective of her. Bianca was even paler than Nico for obvious reasons and was envied by many for her silky dark brown hair. Her brown eyes glowed warmly at everyone as they entered. Nico just gave curt nods to Percy, Thalia, Mr.D and then finally one to his half sister Hazel Levesque. They shared the same father. They were all in their military trousers and black T shirt except for the one that tailed behind Chiron who was tall with a grisly brown beard and a bit longer hair and soft brown eyes together with his false leg. How he lost his leg? No one knoew except for Mr. D who wouldn't tell.

It was her. She had tied her disgusting blonde hair up in a pony tail and was wearing a plain washed out red frock that touched her ankles. Percy noticed that she had tied his brown fur coat around her waist. That made him think, just for a moment, that she would have looked better with her long hair open. But the thought went away as soon as it had come because Percy had wandered his way up to her eyes. He was surprised to see how stormy and cloudy they were. Her eyes could have been even more scarier than his he realized.

Well good for her. He was about to look away and sit back down when another thought grabbed him. Chiron had let her get all clean and pretty. This meant only one thing...

"You all must have been discussing this child's faith here." Chiron said as he looked around with a sad smile. Percy had always wondered how Chiron had been always successful to trick nobles into revealing their identities. 'He is very clever'- That was what he had told Jason when he had asked Percy that question.

"Well I would like to announce that we have a new..." Chiron paused and looked around as a dramatic silence fell before he finally finished his sentence, " comrade!"

All the leaders who were earlier contemplating to burn her alive now started clapping and cheering. A faint but shy smile spread on Annabeth's face as she looked down.

Percy couldn't believe it. She looked so much like them but she wasn't one of them. His fists clenched as he finally sat back on his seat. He didn't like where this was going. He could just feel it. Something had started from the moment he had laid his eyes on that girl. Something big enough to turn into a disaster or to be something good. Percy wasn't very optimistic and he didn't want another disaster in his life. Even though you could practically define everyday of his life a big miss-happen one but still... this thing that he saw while he looked into her eyes was something he had never seen. It sparked every nerve in his body and made him more alert about himself and his surrounding. It was a sure sign that screamed that a disaster was soon to happen and he just knew it. And it would be all because of this girl.

When everyone stopped clapping and hooting Chiron spoke again.

"According to the drills we still have to observe her for over two weeks and then put her in a suitable squadron. Due to the recent gassing event the hatred of the rebels are on their peeks. As she looks like one of them she will be put under the observation of one of the leaders. Any volunteers?"

Chiron looked around the crowd of leaders with evident mischief in his eyes. His gaze stopped at Percy as he gave him a small ghost of a smile. Percy narrowed his eyes and lifted his chin a little. There was no way in hell he was going to volunteer to be that newbie's chaperone.

"I will!" Piper McLean _piped _up from where she was sitting. Her hands landed on the desk as she stood up leaned in. Her eyes were all bright and shiny. It was as if a choppy brown haired cat had seen it's favorite ball of yarn. Even her face was split in a huge calculating grin.

Chiron turned towards her, not at all surprised to see that she had volunteered. Piper always looked for someone to replace Jason in his life threatening mission. But of course no one was going to replace Jason with that newbie any time soon.

"Piper dear." Chiron regarded her for a moment while Mr. D opened a can of sugar-free apple juice.

Her eagerness ebbed away as Chiron spoke, "So, you'll trade your responsibility of Jason's safety with observing the newbie?" he cocked his eyebrow as Piper's cheeks colored while the rest of her face paled. This was interesting. Percy placed his elbow on the long tables which were in front of all the leaders and rested his cheek against his palm and watched lazily as the drama unfolded before him, unaware that a pair of startling grey eyes were peeking at him every once in a while.

"N-no sir. But sir! I can do them both!" She said hurriedly while shifting from one feet to the other under Chiron's sharp gaze.

"I am sorry Miss McLean. That will not do. We cannot put Jason's like at any more risk than he already is in. That is why we had taken all your cases and other responsibilities from you when you had accepted this assignment."

Piper looked blank as she stared at Annabeth and then at her ring, a gift from Jason, and then back again at Annabeth.

An almost evil lopsided grin spread through Percy's face. He didn't have anything against Piper, in fact he regarded her as one of the strongest in the building, but the girl was too hopeful and optimistic for his liking. And he had a feeling that she wanted others to see her too, she wanted to get famous. But no matter what anybody did, the first three leaders were the most respected and feared ones. No one else had it in them to overthrow their glory.

"I understand sir. I want to keep Jason's assignment." Piper said, finally defeated.

Chiron nodded and turned towards the rest of the leaders, who were waiting for him speak further.

"Any other volunteer?"

From the corner of his eye, Percy could see Rickson, from the eleventh squadron, looking that the new girl like a hungry pig. But alas! He wasn't their leader and their leader Will Solace was in no mood of undertaking another assignment anytime soon. He was too busy in the medical zone after all. The number of injuries just seemed to increase each day.

"Well then I should decide!" Chiron patted the newbie's back twice on that.

Percy wondered if the newbie was feeling sad about no volunteers to take her in.

He looked at her ones again. No, she seemed unaffected and lost in her own thoughts. Percy wondered if this informal meeting reminded her of something. Well... what could a boring and close-to-meaningless meeting remind anyone of anything?

"Hmm... I think... Percy."

Percy's elbow slipped and his chin hit the strong wood hard. He stood up abruptly as Clarisse snickered and called him by various ugly names behind his back. What was that? He had too much on his plate already. He couldn't possibly spend his time fooling around with that girl when there were more nobles to be killed.

"But sir I-"

"Then it's settled then!" Chiron put his hands together in front of him happily and said. "Well it's all settled then. Meeting dismissed!." _what?_

"That's my line." Mr. D muttered as everyone started to get up. People patted Percy on his back.

As the room slowly emptied and the only two souls left in their were him and the newbie, the newbie found her voice.

"Hi."

Percy was looking at her. That was all that he could do at that moment. He took a cautious step towards her and then stopped again. Her face was serene and beautifully made. But she was the new devil in Percy's life. He had to do something .

But it was already too late. Chiron had vanished and Percy was stuck with the new girl. He was now officially her nanny.

He looked at her ones again after a few seconds while she gazed at him.

This was going to be difficult for him.

**I am so sorry for the late update guys but my grand father just passed away and I had exams and it was just so crazy that I didn't get any time to write. I don't know if this chapter is any good but tell me if you guys want me to continue this.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Annabeth**

To say that she was surprised to see the one-legged man in front of her would be an understatement. She had seen him before, of course she used to see him every day just before a few hours ago as a statue. Apart from that she had seen him in history text books and civics pieces. He was the man of the revolution the one who had led them through till the end and had lived at the end of it to see his country shine and flourish as his efforts drove out the incivility of the nobles. He wasn't known to be a peaceful man like Gandhi but wasn't a tyrant either. Everyone back home knew him as Sir William Brial the first president of the new Kyte, or maybe that was just an alibi as the people there were calling him Chiron.

Annabeth wanted to ask him a million questions about the things that might have happened and about the things that were going to. But above all she was curious about his leg. Sir Brial wasn't known to be a limper and even if he had been then it would have surely been printed on the history text books in big and bold in the passages about him. So what had happened? Why was he sitting sprawled on a longs four-poster in just a floppy military pant which sagged waist down around his right leg. His chest was tanned and muscled and sometimes covered with splashes of grisly brown hair just like his head and face. His eyes were also warm and brown and so was his smile. He was staring at Annabeth amiably, making her feel a bit... at ease.

He reminded Annabeth of a teacher she had ones had... Mr Bruner, she was quite young back then and had thought that Mr Bruner was actually her real father as he cared about her well-being the most. She had been very disappointed when she had moved to her junior year of middle school and had found out that he was just a very caring and loving teacher. She had cried a little too but that's that.

"So what do you think... Bianca dear?" Chiron asked in a pleasant deep voice.

And for the first time, Annabeth noticed the other two people in the trophy room. To be fair it was very dimly lit and the only thing she could see were the four-poster on which Chiron was resting and the dismantled guns which were lying below it. They were not something Annabeth enjoyed looking at so she was looking at Chiron instead but now that Chiron had mentioned them, she saw them clearly.

Three words for them, cold-pale-shadowy. That's all. That's enough to describe them as far as Annabeth was concerned. From the looks of it they liked to be in the shadows and Annabeth could feel why others around them liked that too. It wasn't everyday you would find a short (probably because he was still quite young) guy wheeling a girl around. They were intimidating but they sure radiated the aura of darkness. One look at them and you knew that they practically dwelled in darkness.

The girl was keeping a straight face but the boy was filled with hostility. Annabeth noted that while the girl had not decided what to think of her yet, the boy already hated her. Well... everybody seemed to hate her here anyway.

"I don't know Chiron." The girl who was Bianca spoke up, " My eyes tell me that she is a noble but... "

"It's okay dear you don't have to strain yourself or anything." Chiron gave her a kind smile as he continued,

"I would like you both to leave us alone for a while, probably take a walk outside."

At that the boy's pupils expanded and he said in a quick flurry, "Now way are we leaving you here with a... filthy noble."

Annabeth winced at being called filthy but said nothing, she didn't want the guy to pull out his gun, which she was sure he had on him, and shoot her down right there.

"You question my abilities Nico?" Chiron asked with a raised eyebrow rather dramatically.

"I don't-"

"Actually," Binaca said as her eyes met with Chiron's briefly, "I would really like to see the morning glories again. Won't you take me there Nico?"

The smile she gave him could have easily been sunshine in that dark room. Although it wasn't cold before it certainly seemed pleasant now. Even though her smile was not directed at Annabeth, she felt a bit better. At least someone there could smile.

Nico looked from Chiron and then at Bianca's brightly lit face and as the muscles in his face relaxed, Annabeth knew what he would say.

"Fine! But If I hear the slightest sound of any kind of threat, this blonde whore..." He said while giving Annabeth a sharp look.

"Nico!" Bianca protested at his language but Nico ignored her as he finished, "Is going down."

Annabeth could see Bianca's smile waver at Nico's behavior but it came back again as he turned to shift her wheel chair.

"You have my word but please watch your tongue Mr DiAnjelo." Chiron said calmly, not looking very pleased anymore.

Annabeth felt further invisible as she let that insult slide too. She wondered what she would have done to him in more favorable circumstances. They didn't seem quite pretty to her.

As The door creeked open and Bianca was wheeled out she heard them one more time,

"Thank you Nico. You are a darling."

"Anything for you Bianca."

"You are such an adorable little brother!"

And then the door was pushed to be closed ones again.

Nico hated the nobles, Annabeth noted. Maybe the reason why Bianca was on a wheelchair had a lot to do with it. If it were so she felt almost sorry for thinking about all those rude and devilish things she had thought as favorable circumstances. Annabeth could after all die for her family, specially her siblings.

"So?" Chiron cleared his throat and drew her attention back to him.

She looked at him for a moment and frowned. Did he expect her to say something? But what? All she had were questions. Maybe she would ask one.

"what happened to your leg?"

Chiron gave her a sad smile before he spoke, "And there you go, proved yourself."

"What?" Annabeth blinked. Proved herself to not be noble? Just like that?

Chiron chuckled at her, "A noble would be least bothered about my leg, rather he or she would feel that I deserved whatever had robbed me of it. But you clearly are not one of them as from the look on your face you sincerely wanted to know about it."

Annabeth nodded slowly, taking in the wisdom in his words. This man was brilliant.

"But-" He paused to give Annabeth a piercing look, "You are not a common civilian either."

Annabeth took a step back from where she was standing. Bad move, but how did he know? Her uniform was concealed under Percy's long furry-brown coat. He couldn't have possibly just guessed that. Annabeth had been very very quiet.

"So... where are you from? And don't tell tales. Nico wasn't lying earlier." The look in Chiron's eyes told Annabeth that he wasn't joking.

She gulped and spoke up in a rather low voice, "You would not believe me."

Chiron's eyes softened, "I can hear truth's voice dear. Try me."

She might as well.

"Okay!" Annabeth said while throwing up her hands in the air and speaking loudly for the second time in hours, "My friend's time machine went hay wire and sent me here in this... place where everyone wants me dead."

Chiron was silent, his face expressionless. Annabeth quickly added,

"I know you don't believe me but you can ask me any date about the rebellion. I would know or any detail." If they were there in all those books she had devoured.

More silence followed. Then Chiron looked up at her and nodded in acceptance. Annabeth could practically feel her jaw drop. She hadn't expected the first person to whom she confessed the truth to believe her. She searched Chiron's eyes for some kind of doubt or mirth or any thing... But they were clear... absolutely clear and trusting. He trusted her. Could he really hear the voice of truth like he had said?

A sad smile appeared on Chiron's face as Annabeth gaped at him. He tilted his head to a side and said, "What is wrong my dear?"

"I am waiting for you to laugh at me, or to yell at me or kill me. Because it is impossible that you believe me. You must be joking and at any moment you would reveal what you really think and sentence me to death. Yes... this has to be a practical joke."

Annabeth said in a quizzical tone. Chiron sat up straight and bent down to pull something out from beneath his four-poster. It clanked as he drew it out and a faint glint from it caught Annabeth's eye. It was made of metal and it suspiciously looked like a false leg. Annabeth watched as he pulled it up on and started fastening it. It looked quite heavy. Annabeth wondered how he managed to walk in it.

"It is very easy to see when someone is telling the truth and when someone is lying. You just have to look for the right signs." His face crinkled as he winked at her. Annabeth noticed that Chiron had smile lines on his face. He must have been a smiling person.

He got up at tapped his false leg against the ground and checked for its flexibility. It moved perfectly with him.

"Okay dear that's all for today. Let's go and find Bianca. You must be freezing in that attire and I am sure we are also invited to old Dionysus's meeting. Hurry up!"

He strode past her much like a horse and held open the to-be-trophy room's door for her. Annabeth followed him outside, wondering why he had dodged the question about how he lost his leg.

* * *

><p>After that awfully awkward meeting everyone had filed out of the little room. It was as if suddenly everyone had forgotten that she was a threat to their society. A moment ago one of their leaders, Piper McLean maybe, was fighting and arguing to take her in as if she were a piece of pearl. She wondered about how volatile they had been. One second they wanted her to die the most cruel death and in the other they wanted her as a piece of chess in their board game. She couldn't trust any of them, she realized with a great wave of sadness. She wondered about how her family members were coping with her disappearance. Vera must be running her ass off and posting flyers and Malcolm must be crying his eyes out. Dad would be busy with the suddenly turned violent twins and mom would be going from place to place, office to office in order to look for her.<p>

She clutched the sides of her washed out red dress as her throat started to tighten up. Her pony tail felt heavy on her head. She looked up as she heard footsteps, they were careless and rapid. She looked up and was met by a pair of shocked sea-green eyes. It was him, Percy. Somehow he was stuck with her again. Chiron had just asked him to take Annabeth under his wing and judging from the way his eyes were getting all cold and his jaws were setting along with his fingers folding into tight fists at his sides, she guessed that he wasn't the least bit happy about it. To be honest Annabeth had been watching him throughout the session and she had heard him speak for her life against Piper McLean's ideas. She had felt a great surge of gratitude at him at that but now, after seeing his displeasure, she felt kind of angry. It wasn't she who had asked Chiron for Percy's gracious help! He didn't have to be such a stuck up kid. But yet she decided to be polite.

"Hey." She said.

She watched at Percy took an uncertain step towards her but then stopped where he was. His eyes were waging like an angry sea. Was showing her around and being at least cordial to her that hard to pull off? She hadn't imagined it to be. But when he spoke Annabeth was compelled to listen even if he had closed his eyes and let out a huge sigh before he said it.

"Listen, I'll show you where to sleep and where the bathrooms are. Find a job and stay low here. From the way you jump a feet when you see a gun is a sign that you are not meant for the attack forces."

Annabeth's eyes narrowed. He was underestimating her. He was behaving like she was a great big bad problem in his life, one he was so irritated to have. So be it. She didn't need his help, this was going to be her school some day and she knew her way around it like the back of her hand. She just had to mark new locations instead of the old ones and that would be all. She hated being underestimated and if he thought she was not worth his time then he could just be well off without her.

"I think I'll show myself around. Thanks for offering your kind help." She hadn't meant to taunt him but hey! She couldn't help it.

And apparently Percy couldn't help being extremely rude either.

"Listen blondie. I don't know what your brain powers are but if you have noticed you look like a noble. And people here don't just dislike them because they have stolen their candies. We hate them with every fiber of our being. And if you think people, specially men, are going to forgive you for looking like one... you can just ask me to shoot your head instead."

Annabeth's cheeks reddened. Did he just call her stupid because she was blonde? And hell she knew exactly what people would do so she wasn't planing to sing a song and walk around the public passages with her two arms swinging.

"I am perfectly capable of looking after my self." She said in a matter of factly way.

Percy's face contorted to form an ugly sneer as he bit back the insults that had flung to his tongue as only a single word came out as harshly as it could.

"Fine."

"Fine!" Annabeth echoed.

She bumped his shoulder as she stomped past him towards the door and made her way down the corridor. He wasn't going to hurt her pride anytime soon if she had any say in it which she clearly had. She could feel his eyes staring at her back intently as she walked away from him. She felt hot at the thought of him staring but quickly dismissed the thought. There was no way in hell she could stand that self-absorbed, violent and rude pretty boy.

* * *

><p>She was walking down what used to be the south corridor of Brial High. It had led to the various labs back then. Now she didn't know where they ended up. The floors were cemented there and the walls had a serious case of seepage. The windows were highly curtained and rarely any light entered through them. She wondered if the sun had come up yet. It was impossible to know that with all the windows sealed. It was relatively cold there. Annabeth missed Percy's fur coat even though he had been a jerk to her.<p>

How could he possibly call her weak? He barely knew her! And why was it bothering her so much? People often thought she was stupid because of her blonde hair. Yeah right. Her curled blonde hair. How she wished for it to be black!

The passage led to no rooms in particular. People were hanging out there and giving her death glares. But no one touched her. They must have got the news that Chiron thought she was a commoner. So much for ripping her apart.

She turned a corner and felt the windows slowly slide away as the people who passed her lessened over and over. She wondered where she was going. No. She can't think that. She must know where she was going or blowing Percy off would be of no good. That's when she heard a loud gun fire and dashed into the nearest room and closed the door behind her. Her breathing had already become laborious and she was slumped on her back against the door, her eyes squeezed shut. She heard voices saying 'Get them' and stuff and decided to stay where ever she was until everything was settled outside.

It would have been better if she had not thought that and had just bolted out of that room. It was too late when she heard some hard raspy chuckle and opened her eyes. There were four of them. Each one scrawny, blonde and had blue eyes. Their white cotton clothes were extremely dirty and their hair were all tangled and slimy. The looks in their eyes were hungry and they were coming towards her.

Prisoners. Noble Prisoners. The guards outside were trying to get them.

She turned around and tried to open the door but one of the men grabbed her roughly by her hand and threw her against the floor. That hurt. She opened her eyes and as her vision cleared and she sat up a little she saw that she was surrounded by those men. The look in their eyes didn't give her a happy feeling. Instead she was scared. She didn't have any weapon on her and she couldn't take out four full grown men even if they had been weakened by their life in the prisons. She looked around the room and almost cried out in frustration as she saw that the room had just one door and no windows. The men were blocking her way to the door. She couldn't run. She had to think... think!

"Look what we have got here Victor! A lady. I told you it's our lucky day today!"

He menacingly pushed the skirt of her frock up and rubbed his hand against her thigh. In that moment of panic Annabeth swatted his hand away. The man looked at her furiously and slapped her hard against her cheek. She fell back on the ground with a soft yelp.

"Cover her mouth!" Barked one of the men and before Annabeth could scream or yell a smelly, big hand came down on her face. The man's grip was rather tight. The men laughed as they made themselves comfortable around Annabeth and started tearing down her red faded frock. Tears rolled down Annabeth's eyes as she lay there helpless. They had pressed her hands beneath her and one of them was sitting on her legs, completely pinning her down. She felt a gush of air on her skin as one of the men threw her dress away. Now she was just in her camisole and baggy owl boxers but it was only a matter of time until they took them off and... and... and...

Why was this happening to her? She didn't want this. Not like this. She had never let Luke touch her more than a kiss even tough he had been her boyfriend. And now these prisoners were touching her everywhere, licking her, biting her and leaving marks on her skin through their tight grips. They were laughing and whistling and calling her names.

"Look at this Jonathan!"

One of them perked up in delight and pinched Annabeth's thigh sharply. It hurt like hell and her back arched up in defence as her legs tried to free themselves. The men laughed making more hot tears roll down Annabeth's cheek. She wished she could just die.

"Ooh! Such a whore!"

"Who want's to go first?"

"Me!"

"But Victor-"

"I came up with the plan so now move!"

No! No! No! This was not happening. This was just a bad dream. A very bad dream. At any moment mom was going to wake her up and-

Two bony hands tugged at her camisole which made her thrash which wasn't much. The hand on her mouth was making it hard to breath which left her feeling very weak.

"Stay still you whore!"

Another slap. No. This time it was a punch. Her cheek went on fire as those bony hands tugged at her camisole again. This was the end. Annabeth knew she wouldn't survive this and that made her feel good though she didn't give up the fight. She didn't want to keep on living after this any way. She squeezed her eyes further and waited... she waited for them to tear her apart.

There was a loud bang. The man- Victor- who was trying to pull her camisole off wiped around and froze in horror. She could see the color drain off his features as he went slack. It was as if he had seen a ghost. The other men soon followed his gaze and froze up with him. Annabeth's head was free of the smelly hand. She craned her neck up to see who it was. She was met with familiar blue-green eyes. Only they were storming.

Percy slowly came inside as the men got off her and raised their hands high up in surrender. Percy's pistol was on them as he moved to his side slowly, not moving his eyes from them. And then when he was directly in front of them, he looked sideways first and then snapped his head towards Annabeth. His eyes went wide and... soft.

More tears ran down her eyes as she covered her face with her hands and crossed her legs together tightly. Her body shook as silent sobs rattled her. She didn't want him to see her like that. She didn't want anyone to see her like that. Then she heard Percy shoot followed by a painful scream.

This time, Annabeth decided, she didn't mind him killing them off without mercy.

She heard another shot just after a grim and heavy voice whispered,

"Say your prayers nobles."

**What's going to happen? Is Annabeth going to be okay? Tell me if you liked this chapter! I love you guys!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Annabeth**

Annabeth felt herself shaking and shuddering as she stared at the ground through her folded arms. If just a few days ago someone would have shot down a bunch of men in front of her, she would have screamed or even felt disgusted. But now... all she could do was be afraid. She was scared out of her minds as to what could have to happen. It was all because she was too proud to accept Percy's help and decided that her school was a safe heaven in all ages. Her pride would have robbed her purity if... if... if...

Warm long fingers brushed her shoulders. Annabeth panicked and flung her fist to throw a punch.

"Stay away!" She screamed as pearly drops of tears washed down her face.

"Hey, It's okay. They are de- gone."

Annabeth looked up and stared around. Her eyes took in all the four dead bodies then relief came to her bones. Then she realized what she was feeling and waited for her guilt to take over. She waited and waited but it never came. She was glad that those nobles were dead and nothing was going to change that. Finally her eyes landed on a pair of blue-green ones, crouched in front of her, which were uncharacteristically soft. Too soft to look away from... like melting jade in an ocean. She should be afraid of him or any other man but the softness in those eyes screamed that they were safe and maybe even the safest.

Annabeth wished for a friend or her siblings or her mom to magically appear in front of her but she knew that they were too far away... too far away in time.

So the next thing she did was because she was scared to death and the person in front of her gave off positive vibes. Maybe those weren't all the reasons but they were the clearest ones so she took them and wrapped her arms around Percy's neck as tightly as she could and buried her face against his strong-broad chest and cried. She was actually wailing like a baby but she didn't care. At that moment she just wanted to scream and let all her frustration on being trapped hundred years behind her time, on being almost molested and on her new found loneliness. After all she was all alone there with no friends or family, no one who could protect her or love her was there.

So she clung to him, her hold around his neck tightening with every passing second. She could barely sense how still and rigid Percy had gotten or how he had stopped breathing. She wanted to calm down. She wished her heart would slow down but it was annoying her by only speeding up. Annabeth sniffed back a tear and caught a whiff of a... cologne? But she could also smell something else in it, she could smell the salty breeze of an ocean or the ocean itself.

Why was he smelling like the ocean? Why was she able to smell him?

Annabeth's eyes opened up wide. She realized that she was clutching Percy who was as still and uncomfortable as a stone pillar. She gulped and started to pull away when he leaned in and put one of his hand just below her shoulder and with the other one he stroked her hair awkwardly. He was kind of messing them up but Annabeth didn't want to point that out. She was holding her breath and waiting for Percy to speak, which she somehow knew he would. And when he spoke, his cool breath hit the sensitive skin of her ear, making her whole body tingle. When had he moved so close? Why had he moved so close?

And just like that, Annabeth started being more aware of herself. A burning blush creeped up to her cheeks when she realized that she was only wearing her camisole and undergarments. She must not smell all that great unlike him though. Oh boy! This was getting on her very nerves. Why was she getting so excited and nervous at the same time? She had hugged Luke before but she had always been sure of herself at moments like those. Why was her skin getting so unnaturally hot on a winter day?

And when he spoke, even if it was just a whisper (a husky one!), she could feel the hair on her neck stand in response.

"They are dead" he said slowly, "they won't hurt you or anybody else now."

She swallowed. Images of what could have happened pushed around the corners of her mind. She had somehow managed to put them past her when Percy had moved for a moment. If he could make her forget things like that... she decided that he was a good company then.

"Are you still afraid?"

His voice was almost... kind? Could a murderer be kind? That's what he did at the end of the day after all. He killed nobles indiscriminately. But thoughts like those weren't making any sense to her. Maybe they would come to her later but at that moment... all that she could do was nod.

"Hold on then."

His arms left her back and hair and she felt something slipping from below her arms, something slippery and warm. And yet again, she was huddled up in one of Percy's coat, though shorter than the last one, it still reached her thighs.

Then with one arm around her back and the other around beneath her knee her picked her up.

"I can walk." Annabeth managed weekly but Percy ignored her.

She looked up to see that he was making a point to stair ahead and not at her almost naked body. She could trace faint signs of red in his cheeks as he walked her out the door. His green eyes scanned the crowd around for enemies (probably) as he set out.

"Where are we going?" Annabeth asked after a moment as she sensed all the unwanted stares on his back.

"Infirmary." He said shortly.

So he was carrying her to take people's attention away from her dress. That was so... sweet of him.

"But I'm fine." She protested.

A sarcastic smirk appeared on his lips as he said, "You have got a black eye. Makes you look uglier somehow blondie."

Annabeth rolled her eyes as her cheeks burned again. One moment he was taking care of her and another he was teasing her. At least he didn't seem to hate her now. She still remembered that look of utter disgust in his eyes when he had first seen her... and pointed a gun at her.

But he seemed... nice.

Maybe be she would hold on to him for a little bit longer.

* * *

><p>Annabeth realized that she had been asleep when she woke up. She had dreamed about Luke and that girl she had seen him with. She saw them enjoying their lives and growing happy day by day while she watched from the fringes like a shadow. But then a gun shot had caught her attention and just after the ear shattering noise Luke and his girl had disappeared and there was only one person there, who was holding the gun straight at her. And that's how she had woken up, sweating and clutching the sheets she had been sleeping in. She looked around and saw white empty walls with closed and curtained windows. The room was cool and it smelled of antiseptic and a bit like alcohol and iodine. Everything looked so neat, clean and appropriate. The room was not very big but not too small either. There were several four-posters lined properly along the wall and there were few tables with chest drawers. They must have contained medicines.<p>

A cold breeze blew and made Annabeth's hair fall over her face. She sat up on her bed and turned to face an open window. She realized that she was in a corner of the room and if memory served right this was the detention room. She had never been there for causing trouble but had been there once to fetch another student. At that time the room had been like any other class room with glaring kids and a very very bored teacher. But now it was empty. Annabeth was surprised. She had expected more injured people from all the revolting that she had read about from those periods but the infirmary was empty except for her who was not really all that injured. Or was she?

She placed a hand on her eye and felt a slippery kind of ointment covering it. She brought her fingers to her nose and smelled it. It smelled of tallow candles. That was a very old remedy.

Annabeth sighed. She was really way far back in time now wasn't she. It was frustrating. She didn't even want to think about what her family might have been doing.

She turned her attention back to the open window and inhaled as much air as she could. Her nostrils filled with cold air which kind of made her feel... fresh. She couldn't see what was outside as it was dark. It was a shame as that was the only open window Annabeth had seen since coming to this building which she knew but couldn't place.

"Percy asked for that window to be opened, although it's a taboo."

Annabeth jumped. She had not heard anyone coming in. Were the nobles trying to assault her again? She turned her neck around and was relieved to not see people with blonde hair and blue eyes. Somehow the long braided black hair and annoyed black eyes of the girl was kind of refreshing. She was wearing a loose white shirt and military pants. Her pale skin was kind of glowing in the dark night. And she looked really annoyed at Annabeth. What could she have done to a person she had never met before?

"Did you threaten him or perhaps bribe him?" She said in a shrill voice. Her nose was a bit red but maybe that was due to her not wearing any warm cloth in a chilly winter night.

"Who are you talking about? Who are you?" Annabeth found it very easy to talk. She must have had a good sleep. She must have been really tired to fall asleep on such a thin mattress.

No it wasn't the mattress. It had been Percy's arms that she had fallen asleep in. She had felt warm and safe and... sleepy? Colour flushed to her cheeks and to the tips of her ear and she knew who that girl was talking about.

"Mr. Jackson of course! The leader of the second squadron." Annabeth noticed that somehow calling Percy the leader of some squadron made the girl shine with pride. She raised her eyebrow. Who was this freak? Or maybe branding her as a freak was taking it too far. But for some reason she was getting annoyed.

"Why would I bribe him? I don't even know him." Annabeth looked down and noticed that she was wearing a loose white frock. She wondered who had changed her dress and quickly put the thought away. She already knew that it must have been a nurse.

"I don't know! But you certainly did! He got in so much trouble with Mr. D and Chiron for not looking after _you._!"

That made Annabeth look back at the girl again. She noticed how red her face had become. Even her tight nuckles were red by her side.

"What kind of trouble?" Annabeth asked in a careful tone.

"Either to be your guardian or to drop out from the post of a leader. Basically he was asked to choose between a rock and a big hard stone!"

Annabeth blinked. Clearly surprised. Hadn't he told them that it was her fault for waltzing out, that she was the one who was too proud to accept his help? Maybe if she had swallowed her pride back then, she would not have been almost abused and Percy would have not gotten into any kind of trouble. But Percy was so rude to her back then! What could she have done?

"I see." She murmured under her breath.

"_I see! _I am not here to tell you anything. I am here to tell you to stay away!"

What the hell?

"What?" Annabeth's annoyance was clear in her voice this time and she didn't even try to hide it.

"Because I love-"

This time Annabeth heard the door at the other end of the room open. Someone's hurried footsteps echoed down the hall as he came into view. He was wearing a twentieth century shirt whit a blazer and loose pants and was none other than the black haired girl's loved one, Percy. He glanced once at the other girl and his fierce look softened a little and then he turned to Annabeth, analyzing her injuries and sort of forgetting the other girl's existence.

"I thought you were an intruder Reyna." He sighed when he was done checking on Annabeth.

"I- I am- why do- why are you here?"

Annabeth suppressed a giggle. She could almost see this Reyna girl reddening up uncharacteristically. Annabeth got a vibe that Reyna was as merciless as Percy, maybe not so skilled but skilled enough. Poor girl. To have a crush on the devil himself. Annabeth didn't know Percy that well and seriously owed her life and much more to him but still... she couldn't shake the fact that he was the most arrogant person she had ever met.

Percy jerked his head towards Annabeth, "Guarding her. That's what a guardian is supposed to do."

"You chose to be her guardian!" Reyna sounded horrified by that idea. Annabeth raised her eyebrow a bit but didn't comment.

But this time Percy had fully turned towards her, his eyes narrowed and kind of glinting threateningly. Well at least they were not flashing murderous green like they had earlier. But from the way Percy was almost glaring at her, Annabeth inferred that not only he had no clue about Reyna's feelings for him but he also didn't count her as one of his friends. Annabeth wondered what his friends were like. Well Thalia seemed pretty upbeat and cool but she was his cousin.

"Yes. Can you stand... Chase?"

Annabeth looked at him and barely stopped herself from frowning. So now they were doing the last name thing. Well, fine by her!

"Of course I can." She mumbled and pushed the sheets off herself.

Her frock was just about five inches along her thighs and the rest of her legs were bare. At least Annabeth could feel the elastic of shorts on her waist which made her a little less red. But then, hadn't she been in just a camisole and underpants when Percy had found her and carried her here? Annabeth looked down as her eyes widened. Her cheeks were brightening up a bit too fast. Why had she been clinging to him back then? Was her mind not functioning properly that time?

"Well?" Grunted Percy.

Annabeth squeezed her eyes shut and then opened them hurriedly as she quickly stood up. Well... she should have been careful considering that she had a black eye and was a horse for at least four adults a short while ago but well... she twisted one of her ankle on impact and went soaring down right on her face. She heard someone smirk and instinctively knew it was Percy. She cursed under her breath as she struggled to pick herself up.

"Shouldn't you help her up?" Annabeth heard Reyna asking.

"No. She needs to help herself this time."

"Fine!" That was Annabeth.

She planted both her palms on the cold stone ground and stood up on them, this time more slowly and carefully. Finally she was up on her feets, a bit unstable, but standing none the less. She looked up at Reyna, who was looking back at her with a blank look and then she looked at Percy. His eyes were bright again but this time they didn't look like a hunter's. They looked amused, mocking. A sprained foot must mean nothing to him but it wasn't every day Annabeth was pushed hard on the ground with a foot twist. Of course she couldn't say that to him.

"You sure you aren't a noble princess? You could pass as one."

The look on his face was beyond mocking. And it was annoying.

"I would take that as a compliment."

Annabeth wasn't going to be the one to eat an insult in any circumstance.

"Well if you are done taking baby steps" With that he turned on his heels and started walking, "Come along."

"I'll accompany her! You must be busy with the hunt!" Reyna said, fumbling on her feet as she tried to catch up with him.

"No need."

After a second, when Percy realized that Annabeth was not following him. He turned around and sighed. He stomped back to her and grabbed her upper arm and swung that arm of hers around his shoulder and pulled her with him by putting his hand on her other arm. She concluded that he was highly electrically charged as where their bare skins met, she could feel the burns of an electric shock. Annbeth protested but was ignored by Percy who was way too stiff. After a few very awkward strides Annabeth finally leaned on him and let him support her weight. Strangely, she found him very comfortable. He radiated warmth in the cold winter night and made her feel slightly thrilled. Thrilled to be so near him that she could tell that his hair smelled like the sea. They exited the infirmary quiet unceremoniously unlike the last time. Annabeth wished she could see Reyna's expression. She wondered if she would have been angry or jealous. A sly smile crept over Annabeth's lips as she imagined a fuming Reyna with a cherry red face. Well, that would have been a cute face.

They exited the building through what used to be the back entrance of the gym and stepped outside the constraints of those walls and closed windows. The corridors that they had walked through were empty and dark. Annabeth had wondered where everybody had gone.

"Everyone is out on the hunt."

Annabeth looked up at Percy. Was she thinking aloud or could he read minds? When he noticed that she was staring at him he shrugged and said,

"The halls were empty. Most of the squads are on hunt. Today also happens to be the training day and those who are left are on guard duty and the families who live here are all inside their shelters. It's after curfew."

He was looking ahead and trying really hard, Annabeth noticed, to not turn her way again.

"You don't have a curfew?" She asked him, not that she already didn't know the answer. Her brain was kind of strong that way. She could think and analyse faster than the others around her.

"Squadron Leader privileges." He sighed as he said that, his shoulders relaxing for the first time since they had started crossing the clearing, "At any rate we are supposed to be the strongest and the most responsible. We hardly get any sleep."

He was right. Even as they passed under the dim moonlight through the clearing which might have been the herbal garden, Annabeth could see the deep dark circles below his eyes. She had to admit that they only added to his good looks. She wondered if he was all that tiered, then why was he fetching her himself? He could have easily sent for someone.

They soon crossed the clearing and entered the maple forest. Annabeth didn't want to become food for wild beasts but Percy seemed confident enough to walk through there so she did not complain. She did not speak up until they reached a wall. A fortress actually. The walls were not as tall as the trees but were huge. They were painted like the leaved so you won't be able to tell what they were unless and until you ran into them. There was a wooden door which looked like a tree's trunk but Annabeth knew that it was a bridge as there was a small brook running right in front of the fortress.

"Tyson!" Percy called.

For a moment nothing happened. The night was very quiet and Annabeth could hear the cicadas chirping. She looked at Percy who was gripping his fore head with the thumb and fore finger of his free hand. She opened her mouth to ask him if he was alright but right then she heard leavers turning. The door came down, first slowly and then with a thud. But Annabeth couldn't see what was inside. The entrance was totally covered by a giant man with a pirate eye. He looked buff and hairy and totally dangerous and he was Tyson.

"Welcome back Brother!."

And he was Percy's brother? Annabeth looked from Tyson to Percy. The giant, one eyed dude looked nothing like the tall and lean boy she was still holding on to. His hair was mousy and brown and his eyes were blue.

"Hey Tyson. This is Annabeth. The one I am assigned to guard."

Tyson looked at Annabeth and for a very long heart beat no one uttered a word. Then finally a smile took over Tyson's grim expression and he stepped aside.

"Welcome to the second squadron Annabeth."

What Annabeth saw inside... took her breath away.

**Hey guys this is the last chapter until April. I have this big board examination coming over. I hope you guys liked this chapter and please tell me how it was. Love you all. You guys are the best!**


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